17 July 2018 By Maria Thermann

Strong US Economy is pushing up Demand for Florida Homes

In April this year Miami Agent Magazine reported that the Florida housing market suffered from high prices and low housing stock. This trend continued in May, with sellers asking for higher than ever prices for condos in particular. The high demand for property is fuelled by the robust performance of the US economy. Low mortgage rates and low unemployment figures are pushing up demand.

Earlier this year, data collected by the Florida Realtors Association suggested that the average price for a single-family home in Florida had risen to $250,800, an increase of 8.2% from 2017. Condos and townhouses had also gone up sharply by March, when the average price stood at $183,000, a 7% rise from the same month a year earlier. Their findings were confirmed by the National Association of Realtors, who stated that the average price for all types of housing in March 2018 had increased to $250,400, a rise of 5.8% from $236,600 in March 2017.

By May this year, the average price for a single-family home in Florida had risen to $255,000, an increase of 6.7%, according to Florida Realtor Association's findings. Their data also showed that condos received 97.5% of their listing price.

Condos performed very well in most US cities, but especially so in Miami Dade and South Florida. By June 2018, the National Association of Realtors predicted that the Florida housing market would see another 5% increase by 2019, with home prices continuing to rise. However, they also warned that house sales would fall due to a lack of available - or more to the point, affordable - housing stock. The 5% increase in Florida house prices, so NAR stated, would be twice that of wage growth and US inflation.

What can investors expect to pay in Florida's cities?

The current average price for a sold Florida home is around $226,500, while the listed price is more like $290,000. The average rental price stood at $1,800 across the Sunshine State, according to Zillow's own data released earlier this summer.

The property portal's data showed that the average price for a home in Naples stood at $329,100, while in Miami Dade a property costs on average $300,500. Expect to pay around $181,000 in Saint Petersburg, $167,000 in Orlando, $152,000 in Jacksonville and $167,000 in Tallahassee. In Tampa the average home price rose to $184,000, while in Pensacola investors might find a property for just $132,000.